At what HHI did you stop feeling middle class?

[Anonymous]

We make $350k and I still "feel" middle class, because we live a VERY middle class lifestyle in an expensive area... But, minus the stress and with a ton more savings in the bank, and more donations/giving.

But I very much KNOW that I'm wealthy by any reasonable standard. Not like the uber rich or even DCUM-rich, but practically speaking, there is nothing middle about my income.

[Anonymous]

$425K and I feel wealthy. We can spend $20K on a vacation. In general we don't think about money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $250k, live in a million dollar house with fantastic public schools, take great but not extravagant vacations, have at least one very expensive hobby (horseback riding), and two kids with all the attendant extra curricular activities (granted no travel sports yet). We also save for retirement, school, and rainy days. We are about to have an income increase and I have no idea what we will do with it. Save more I guess.

I’d say we no longer feel middle class now.

Did you have any family help to boy your house?

Yes

PP here - I’m not the one who replied yes. No, we didn’t have family help.

[Anonymous]

reading all these reeplies makes me realize how OUT.OF.TOUCH most people on this site are.

you think you are not upper middle class or more because you don't fly on private jets? give me a break!

middle class is a little better than paycheck to paycheck. it is not being able to not work and live off of your millions of dollars in investment income. <eyeroll>

granted, housing costs are exorbitant in DC/DC area, but i don't think most people here are really trying to be budget minded about their housing either.

tldr: 200k is not middle class ... period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $250k, live in a million dollar house with fantastic public schools, take great but not extravagant vacations, have at least one very expensive hobby (horseback riding), and two kids with all the attendant extra curricular activities (granted no travel sports yet). We also save for retirement, school, and rainy days. We are about to have an income increase and I have no idea what we will do with it. Save more I guess.

I’d say we no longer feel middle class now.

Did you have any family help to boy your house?

Yes

Then you were never middle class to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea of socioeconomic class around here creates confusion as realistically the average HHI is significantly higher than elsewhere in the nation or even abroad. We are among the richest people in the world, here in the DC area. And yet when you look at your life, living in a small townhouse in a regular suburb driving a practical car like Subaru and sending your kids to public school, you feel like you’re just another regular American. The money doesn’t go far. A young couple bringing in 250k feel less than when really that’s top income globally.

At what point do you feel, well, not middle class?

400k

My husband and I make $435 and I feel very middle class (we are in our mid 30s). I’d say closer to $600K.

You must be referring to feeling ‘upper’ middle class. There’s no way at that hhi you would only feel middle class unless you have 10 kids or six figure debt or something.

We’re both doctors who went to medical school relatively late and prior to medical school worked in poorly paid positions, so basically saved nothing. We started making a combined income around $300K a few years ago. We have focused a lot on paying down debt and only have about $35K left. We just bought a $1.3M house in a HCOL area (outside NYC) last year and took out a 401K loan of $45K to afford it and we’ve been paying that loan back this year, which has been tough. We also have 2 kids in preschool and a nanny, because our hours are long and unpredictable and we don’t have any family help. We have one fully paid off car (2018 Subaru) and are putting off buying another car for as long as possible. We haven’t taken a vacation since 2019. I realize that paying off our debt (minus the mortgage) is temporary. Maybe my perspective is skewed by the fact that I came from a very middle class background (HHI under 70K, both parents routinely worked more than one job) or that I live in a very HCOL area where everyone around me seems to make way more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:reading all these reeplies makes me realize how OUT.OF.TOUCH most people on this site are.

you think you are not upper middle class or more because you don't fly on private jets? give me a break!

middle class is a little better than paycheck to paycheck. it is not being able to not work and live off of your millions of dollars in investment income. <eyeroll>

granted, housing costs are exorbitant in DC/DC area, but i don't think most people here are really trying to be budget minded about their housing either.

tldr: 200k is not middle class ... period.

No, newsflash, you can buy cheaper houses in this area, they just are small and ones you wouldn't want to live in. Life is about choices. If you choose to overspend, you are not middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea of socioeconomic class around here creates confusion as realistically the average HHI is significantly higher than elsewhere in the nation or even abroad. We are among the richest people in the world, here in the DC area. And yet when you look at your life, living in a small townhouse in a regular suburb driving a practical car like Subaru and sending your kids to public school, you feel like you’re just another regular American. The money doesn’t go far. A young couple bringing in 250k feel less than when really that’s top income globally.

At what point do you feel, well, not middle class?

400k

My husband and I make $435 and I feel very middle class (we are in our mid 30s). I’d say closer to $600K.

You must be referring to feeling ‘upper’ middle class. There’s no way at that hhi you would only feel middle class unless you have 10 kids or six figure debt or something.

We’re both doctors who went to medical school relatively late and prior to medical school worked in poorly paid positions, so basically saved nothing. We started making a combined income around $300K a few years ago. We have focused a lot on paying down debt and only have about $35K left. We just bought a $1.3M house in a HCOL area (outside NYC) last year and took out a 401K loan of $45K to afford it and we’ve been paying that loan back this year, which has been tough. We also have 2 kids in preschool and a nanny, because our hours are long and unpredictable and we don’t have any family help. We have one fully paid off car (2018 Subaru) and are putting off buying another car for as long as possible. We haven’t taken a vacation since 2019. I realize that paying off our debt (minus the mortgage) is temporary. Maybe my perspective is skewed by the fact that I came from a very middle class background (HHI under 70K, both parents routinely worked more than one job) or that I live in a very HCOL area where everyone around me seems to make way more.

You have a spending issue. You choose to go to high priced schools and then bought an insanely expensive house. You could have done cheaper housing, you could have done day care and a baby sitter. Your choices don't make you middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea of socioeconomic class around here creates confusion as realistically the average HHI is significantly higher than elsewhere in the nation or even abroad. We are among the richest people in the world, here in the DC area. And yet when you look at your life, living in a small townhouse in a regular suburb driving a practical car like Subaru and sending your kids to public school, you feel like you’re just another regular American. The money doesn’t go far. A young couple bringing in 250k feel less than when really that’s top income globally.

At what point do you feel, well, not middle class?

400k

My husband and I make $435 and I feel very middle class (we are in our mid 30s). I’d say closer to $600K.

You must be referring to feeling ‘upper’ middle class. There’s no way at that hhi you would only feel middle class unless you have 10 kids or six figure debt or something.

How do you know the schools were high priced? College and medical school are not free.

We’re both doctors who went to medical school relatively late and prior to medical school worked in poorly paid positions, so basically saved nothing. We started making a combined income around $300K a few years ago. We have focused a lot on paying down debt and only have about $35K left. We just bought a $1.3M house in a HCOL area (outside NYC) last year and took out a 401K loan of $45K to afford it and we’ve been paying that loan back this year, which has been tough. We also have 2 kids in preschool and a nanny, because our hours are long and unpredictable and we don’t have any family help. We have one fully paid off car (2018 Subaru) and are putting off buying another car for as long as possible. We haven’t taken a vacation since 2019. I realize that paying off our debt (minus the mortgage) is temporary. Maybe my perspective is skewed by the fact that I came from a very middle class background (HHI under 70K, both parents routinely worked more than one job) or that I live in a very HCOL area where everyone around me seems to make way more.

You have a spending issue. You choose to go to high priced schools and then bought an insanely expensive house. You could have done cheaper housing, you could have done day care and a baby sitter. Your choices don't make you middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make $250k, live in a million dollar house with fantastic public schools, take great but not extravagant vacations, have at least one very expensive hobby (horseback riding), and two kids with all the attendant extra curricular activities (granted no travel sports yet). We also save for retirement, school, and rainy days. We are about to have an income increase and I have no idea what we will do with it. Save more I guess.

I’d say we no longer feel middle class now.

Did you have any family help to boy your house?

Yes

Then you were never middle class to begin with.

I mentioned about that this response was not from me.

But how would having help affect whether or not one feels middle class? That was the question posed.

[Anonymous]

I never did. Never even stopped feeling worried even though there’s plenty in the bank. Never stopped living on base salary out of fear even when that was a third of our HHI.

I think it’s because our income never felt guaranteed, ever. Both of our incomes are heavily variable.

[Anonymous]

$300K

[Anonymous]

We live in a Chicago suburb. Not the highest cost of living, not the lowest. Once we started making about 125K, we stopped feeling like middle class. For my area, I'd say middle class for a family of 4 is 80K-125K.

[Anonymous]

The responses here are nutty. People need to step outside of the DC bubble. Our HHI is almost 500K and we know for a fact that we are not middle class. We live in a 1.3 MM house, last week I bought lobster salad at $50 per pound. We have a target savings/investment rate and once we hit that we spend as we please. We've been able to do this since our HHI passed 250K. A big part of this is that we are not flashy people. Other than our house there is no indication that we are "wealthy". Meanwhile I have coworkers that make less money than I do and they drive Porches and Teslas and complain how they're barely scraping by. At some point its a choice. You can always outspend what you earn. Make good choices and then own your decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make $350k and I still "feel" middle class, because we live a VERY middle class lifestyle in an expensive area... But, minus the stress and with a ton more savings in the bank, and more donations/giving.

But I very much KNOW that I'm wealthy by any reasonable standard. Not like the uber rich or even DCUM-rich, but practically speaking, there is nothing middle about my income.

+1. We make $350k and still live a middle class life in part because we have $150k in student loans. Once those are gone I think we can start living a little more. I think I’ll feel rich when I fly nicer than economy